Apparatus for heat treating continuous wire and rod

ABSTRACT

A continuous length of wire or rod to be heat treated is passed over and repeatedly around a porous or perforated cylindrical or slightly conical rotating drum contained within a suitably insulated housing. Hot air or other gas if forced outward through the porous or perforated surface of the drum by a fan or blower disposed coaxially with the drum and located either within or substantially within the drum to heat the wire or rod to a desired temperature. The action of the same fan or blower causes the heated air to flow from the exterior of the drum past heaters and thence again to the interior of the drum. Alternatively, cooling of the wire or rod may be accomplished by substituting cooling means for the heaters.

[ 1 Dec. 31, 1974 ABSTRACT A continuous length of wire or rod to be heat treated is passed over and repeatedly around a porous or perforated cylindrical or slightly conical rotating drum United States Patent 91 Andrus APPARATUS FOR HEAT TREATING CONTINUOUS WIRE AND ROD [76] Inventor: Everett Howard Andrus, Rt. No. 4,

Watertown, Wis. 53094 22 Filed: Mar. 8, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 449,365

[52] US. 432/59, 34/155, 219/155, 219/388, 219/469, 432/8 [51] Int. F27b 9/28 [58] Field of Search...... 219/155, 388, 469; 34/155; 432/8, 59, 60

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 66 bh t. y m mf m ma re m w r r 0 u n g etl :l .nm F 0 g m C n U 6 .1 r. g W dv. m m e t h dm D t In 5 f 5 a 0 0 S r. U m S .m I 0 u m b C a 5 1 0 e mm m .was t m m m m r. e .l eo a a Aah 889x89 u e 5 3B2$B9 493/9 42 2 2 .32 4 .n

fla w miw a N am .w. .w. 0." silt-J 000 M RLLH 2358 55566 99999 11111 WNWWW 5029233 4343638 ,7 ,3 3774770 2685882 222333 1/1969 McCard et PATENTED UEC3 1 m4 sum 1w 2 -673 IIO COOLING MEANS Fig. 3.

APPARATUS FOR HEAT TREATING CONTINUOUS WIRE AND ROD FIELD This invention relates to heat treating apparatus and more particularly to heat treating apparatus for continuous rod or wire wherein the rod or wire travels around a rotating drum.

' PRIOR ART SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND In the device of the invention, a wire or rod or filament to be heat treated is passed into the interior of a suitably insulated chamber which may be referred to as an oven or furnace. Such an article may be referred to as an extended article of indefinite length or more particularly a continuous strand or strand of indefinite length. lt is then passed into conjunction with the outer peripheral surface of a perforated or porous rotating drum near one end thereof. On this surface it travels in a helical pattern until reaching the other end of the drum whereupon it is removed from contact with the periphery and withdrawn to suitable means exterior to the oven or furnace such as a reel or the like.

These characteristics of the device correspond to those of devices described in said US. Pat. Nos. 423,445 and 3,632,092.

Also, hot air may berecycled as described and shown in the first of these patents and as mentioned as a possibility in the second and the heated air may be forced outward through perforations in the drum to provide for heat treating the filament therearound.

In the device of the instant invention, however, heated air is driven through the porosities or perforations of the drum by a fan rotating on the same axis on which the drum rotates and preferably disposed either within or substantially or almost within the interior of the drum. Preferably the fan is located altogether or wire or rod wrapped within the drum, a feature not shown or suggested in I said patents.

Heaters may be located exteriorly to the oven or furnace but are preferably disposed therewithin and air which is passed through the perforations of the drum to its exterior is drawn from the oven and recycled to the interior of the drum over said heaters by the suction action of the fan or blower, all unlike the devices of the referenced patents.

OBJ EC TS which it is intended to illustrate the applicability of the DRAWINGS In the drawings like reference numerals refer to like parts and:

FIG. l is a partially cutaway schematic perspective partially cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the device of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of another embodiment;

FIG. 4i is a cross-sectional view of the embodiment of which FIG. 5 is another cross-sectional view, taken from the aspect indicated by lines 4-4 in FIG. 5; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the embodiment of which FIG. 4 is another cross-sectional view, the view of FIG. 5 being taken from the aspect indicated by lines 5-5 in FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION As shown in FIG. ll, strand 7 enters the device in the directions shown by arrow 8 from a reel or other supply means, not shown for simplicity, and is brought into contact with the outer surface of drum 9 at point 10 near one end ll of drum 9 and thence is wrapped around drum 9 in a plurality of turns 12 extending to nearly the other end 13 of drum 9 whence it is drawn away from the surface of drum 9 at approximately point l4 and removed in the direction indicated by arrow 15 whence it may travel to any suitable destination such as a storage reel.

Drum 9 may be provided at end 13 with end plate l6 which may be attached to hub 17 which may be attached to shaft 18 which may be rotatably received in bearing members 19 and 20.

Drum 9 is provided with a plurality of perforations 21 extending from the interior thereof to the exterior thereof.

Disposed within the interior of drum 9, that is, inside drum 9 and between ends Ill and 13 of drum 9, there may be provided a fan indicated generally as 25 comprising blades 26, 27, 25, 29, 30 and 31 attached to shaft 32 which may be rotatably received in bearing members 33 and 341 and driven by motor 35.

Drum 9 and fan 25 may be contained within a suitably insulated housing or container, not shown for simplicity, which may be provided with suitable means to provide for ingress and egress of strand 7 and is part of the apparatus. Electric heating elements 40 may be provided within a suitable housing or duct 91 and may be heated by electricity conducted thereto by conductors 92 which may extend through bushings 43 provided in a wall of housing ill.

In operation, motor 35 may be operated to rotate fan 25 at a relatively high rotational speed with respect to the rotational speed of drum 9, such as 1,750 or 3,500 rpm. Meanwhile drum 9 may be rotated at a relatively low speed such as 10 rpm by reason of the force (as indicated by arrow 15) which withdraws strand 7 from the device and the frictional engagement of strand 7 with the surface of drum 7. The action of fan 25 may draw air into the interior of drum 9 near the roots of the blades of fan 25'as indicated by arrows 50 and the air thus drawn into the interior of drum 9 may be forced outwardly as further indicated by arrows 50 and may thence be forced through apertures 21 from the interior of the drum to the exterior of the drum as further indicated by arrows 50, and, by reason of providing suitable ducting, not shown for simplicity, the air as further indicated by arrows 50 may be caused'to flow through housing 41 and past heating elements 40 and may then be drawn from housing 41 as further indicated by arrows 50 and further drawn by suction as indicated byarrows 50 again into the interior of drum 9 near the roots of the blades of fan 25. Thus, the air cycles in the stream indicated by arrows 50 and is heated by elements 40 and heats drum 9 and turns 12 of strand 7 by intimate contact therewith as it passes thorugh apertures 21 and emerges from apertures 21. Strand 7 and drum 9 may thereby be heated to the same temperature as the temperature of the air.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2, hollow drum 60 is provided at one end with end plate 61 which may be attached to hub 62.which may be attached to shaft 63 which may be rotatably received in bearing members 64. Shaft 63 may extend through a suitable aperture in the wall of enclosure or housing or chamber 65 so that drum 60 is located within chamber 65. Disposed partly within the interior of drum 60 as defined by drum 60 itself and end plate 61 and the opposite end 66 of drum 60 there may be provided fan or blower 67 comprising blades 67 attached to shaft 68 which may be rotatably received in bearing member 69 and driven by motor 70. Fan 67, although located only partly within the interior of drum 60, may be entirely disposed, as shown, within enclosure 65. Enclosure 65 may be provided with duct means 71 leading to heater 72 and also provided with duct means 73 leading from heater 72 to the hub or root area of fan 67.

Drum 60 may be porous, the pores thereof being indicated schematically as apertures 80 and may be slightly conical as shown. Several turns of strand 77 may be received on the outer peripheral surface of drum 60 as shown and may first contact drum 60 at approximately the point indicated at 78 and may leave the surface of drum 60 at approximately the point indicated at 79. Strand 77 may be introduced into enclosure 65 through a suitable aperture and may leave chamber 65 through a suitable aperture.

lf suitable seals are provided at the points of entry of shafts 63 and 68 into chamber 65 and at the points of ingress and egress of strand 77, a gas other than air such as hydrogen or nitrogen or the like may be contained within enclosure 65. By action of fan 67, the gas may pass through duct 73 from heater 72 to the root area of fan 67 as indicated by arrow 81 and may then pass outwardly to and past the tips of the fan blade as indicated by arrows 81' and may thence pass outwardly from the interior of the drum to the exterior of the drum through the pores thereof indicated by apertures 80 as indicated by arrows 81" and may then pass through duct 71 into heater 72 as indicated by arrow The gas may be heated by heater 72 to any suitable temperature desired for the heat treatment of strand 77 and by reason of the contact of the heated gas with the several turns of strand 77 provided on the exterior of drum 60, strand 77 may suitably be heated to the desired heat treatment temperature.

An alternative method for heat treatment of a strand such as strand 77 which is well known in the prior art is to pass a strand through an elongated oven containing gas heated to a temperature at or above the temperature to which it is desired to heat treat the strand. The device of the instant invention is characterized by being extremely compact as compared with such an elongated oven device for carrying out the same heat treatthem. As an example, if a strand is to be heat treated for 25 seconds at a preselected temperature while traveling at a speed of 300 feet per minute (5 feet per second), such an elongated oven device of the prior art would have to have a length of at least 225 feet (5 feet per second X 25 seconds) if the strand reached the heat treatment temperature instantly upon entering the device. Since in fact this is never the case and a certain period of time and therefore a certain distance is necessary to provide contact between the heated gas and the strand to raise the temperature of the strand to heat treatment temperature the oven would have to be much longer, say 300 feet. A-device according to the instant invention to heat treat a strand to the same extent could comprise a drum four feet in diameter (which would therefore have a circumference of about 12.57 feet) having a length from end to end of about 30 inches to have 24 turns of the strand extending therearound spaced more than one inch apart and the total length of the strands in said turns would be just slightly more than 301.5 feet. Such a device obviously could have overall dimensions on the order of 6 feet X 6 feet X 6 feet.'Not only would its original cost be far less than that an oven 300 feet long due to its much smaller size but it would be much less expensive to install and would occupy far less floor space in a factory. Accordingly, far less overhead would be charged to its operation.

The embodiment of FIG. 3 is similar to that of FIG. 1 but differs from that of FIG. 2 in that the fan as described hereinafter in detail is disposed entirely within the interior of the apertured rotating drum and in that the device provides means for cooling a strand rather than heating Such cooling might be desired for example after the strand has been heat treated in another device whether the heat treating device is constructed in accordance with the invention or in accordance with the prior art. Drum is disposed within chamber 91 and may be attached to hub 92 which may be attached to shaft 93 which may be rotatably received in bearing members 94.

Strand 95 may be wrapped around drum 90 in several turns and may first contact drum 90 at 96 and may leave drum 90 at 97. Apertures 99 may extend from the interior of drum 90 to the exterior of drum 90. The fan or blower indicated generally as 100 may comprise blades 100' and may be disposed entirely within the interior of drum 90, that is blades 100' do not extend beyond either end of drum 90. Blades 100 may be attached to shaft 101 which may be rotatably received in bearing members 102 and be driven by motors 103. Duct may provide a path for air to travel from the interior of chamber 91 to cooling means 111 and duct 112 may provide a passage for air to travel from cooling means 111 to the interior of chamber 91 at the root or hub portion of fan 100.

Other gas in place of air may be utilized in the device if suitable seals are provided as discussed in connection with FIG. 2.

By action of fan 100, air may travel in the manner indicated by arrows in FIGS. 1 and 2 from the interior to the exterior of drum 90 through apertures 99, thence through duct 110 to cooling means 111, thence from cooling means 111 through duct 112 to the root or hub area of fan 100, thence from the root or hub area of fan 100 to the blade tip area of fan 100 and thence again through apertures 99. The cooled air or other gas cooled by cooling means 111 contacts strand 95 as it exits from apertures 99 and thereby cools strand 95 in a desired manner.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5 there is shown an embodiment which is characterized by several features not shown inthe embodiments of FIGS. l-3, each of which is advantageous: means are provided to adjust the diameter of the drum at one end while maintaining the diameter of the-drum at the other end unchanged so that the drum may be made either cylindrical or conical and the degree of conicity may be varied; no ducting is provided for passage of air or other gas to or from heating means but instead heating'elements are disposed directly within the interior of the closure or chamber within which the drum is disposed; air or other gas enters the hub or root area of the fan from the end or side of the fan which is opposite the motor which drives the fan instead of entering said area from the side of the fan which is nearest the motor which drives the fan as shown in each of the embodiments of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3; access means is provided at the point of entry of the strandto the chamber or enclosure and also at the point of exit of the strand from the chamber or enclosure so that an operator may have access to the drum to initially wind the strand around the drum and also to provide .for making repairs or correcting faults; means is provided to drive the drum rotatively at a low speed to facilitate initially winding the strand repeatedly around the drum. I I

The embodiment of H05. 4 and 5 may comprise base plate 220 having mounted thereon a housing or chamber or enclosure indicated generally as 221 which generally may comprise an inner member or liner of steel or other metal 222 and an outer or shell portion 223 which also may be of steel or other metal and insulation 224 which may be contained between members 222 and 223. Strand 227 may enter chamber 221 through a passage provided in a split bushing which has a top half 230 and a bottom half 231, each of said halves being attached to adjacent portions of enclosure 221. Likewise strand 227 may leave the device through a tubular aperture provided in a split bushing which comprises top half 232 and lower half 233.

Bushing half 231 may be attached to a door or closure portion 235 of chamber 221 which may be attached to hinge portion 236 which may be pivotally attached at 237 to a member 238 projecting from portion 223 of enclosure 21' to open to the positionshown in dashed lines at 235' and 23.1.

Bushing half 233 may likewise be attached to a door portion 235 which may be attached by a hinge portion 236 to another portion 238 extending from enclosure 221 to pivotally open at 237' to the position shown in dashed lines at 233' and 235'.

Drum 250 may be disposed within chamber 221 and may be provided at one end with flange 251 which may be bolted with bolts 252 to end plate 253. Drum 250 may be provided at the other end with flange 254 and I may have apertures 255 extending therethrough from the interior of the drum to the exterior of the drum. Ribs 256 may be securely attached to end plate 253 as by welding and may extend through the interior of drum 250 and may be secured at their other ends to a second end plate 257, as by welding, to provide stiffness and strength.

Securely attached to each of ribs 256 as by welding there may be provided an internally threaded member 258which may be provided with screw 259 threadedly received therein and acting against the interior of drum 250 adjacent end flange 254. Drum 250 may be split with slit 260, as shown, and a corresponding slit 261 may be provided in flange 25ll.By threaded movement of screws 259 outwardly in members 258, drum 250 may be expanded from the cylindrical form shown in full lines at 250 to the conical form indicated by dashed lines 250' with flange 254 occupying the position indicated in dashed lines at 254.

Several turns of strands 227 may be wrapped around drum 250 as shown and strand 227 may travel in a helical pattern on the surface of drum 250 as discussed in connection with FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. [n the event drum 250 is maintained in conical form 250', as discussed particularly in connection with FIG. 2, travel in a desired helical pattern may be facilitated.

Fin-spokes 265 may be securely attached as by welding to end plate 253 and may have a second end plate 266 securely attached thereto as by welding. End plate 266 may be provided with flange 267 extending nearly to portion 222 of enclosure 221. End plate 266 and finspokes 265 may be attached as by welding or the like to hub 268 of shaft 269 which may be rotatably received in bearings 270 mounted in pillow blocks 271 which in turn may be mounted on support 272. l-lub 278 may extend through aperture or opening 273 pro vided in chamber 221. Shaft 269 may be reduced in diameter at 274 and provided with pulley or sheave 275 mounted on overrunning clutch 276 attached to portion 274 of shaft 269.

Motor 280 provided with gear reducer 281 having output shaft 203 may be supported by bracket 282 from support member 272. Sheave 284 may be attached to shaft 283 and V-belt 205 may be trained over sheaves 284i and 275.

The fan indicated generally as 290 may be provided within the interior of drum 250 and may comprise blades 291 attached to shaft 292 which may be driven by motor 293. Struts 294 may extend between blades 291 for strengthening purposes.

Fairing 277 may extend from the inner edge 278 of annular end plate 253 to near adjacency with blades 2911, as shown, to provide a duct leading from the spaces between fin-spokes 265 to the root or hub area of fan or blower 290.

Motor 293 may be provided with base plate 295 which may be attached to fastening plate 296 (which may have insulating plug 298 attached thereto and extending through aperture 297 in enclosure 221) and which may be fastened to portion 223 of chamber 221 with bolts 299.

Electric heating element 300 may extend within chamber 221 from base plugs 301 which may be attached to mounting plates 302 and received in apertures 303 in chamber 221. Electric connectors 304 may be attached to mounting plates 302 and electrical conductors, which for simplicity are not shown, may lead from a suitable source of electrical current to connectors 304 to provide for heating electrical heating elements 300.

In place of electrical heating elements 300, gas fired heating elements or other suitable heating elements may be provided.

Cooling elements may be substituted for elements 300 if desired.

In operation, fan 290 is operated at a relatively high rate of speed by motor 293 and drum 250 is turned at a relatively low rate of speed by friction with strand 227 which is pulled from chamber 221 by means not shown for simplicity.

During startup, drum 250 is turned by operation of motor 280 acting through speed reducer 281 and belt 285 to rotate shaft 269 to assist an operator in winding strand 227 repeatedly around drum 250. After such initial winding of strand 227 on drum 250 is accomplished, force is applied to strand 227 to withdraw it from chamber 221 at a rate such that drum 250 and shaft 269 then rotate at a faster rate than they are rotated by operation of motor 280 and belt 285 and overrunning clutch 276 then operates to permit or allow such greater rotation speed of shaft 269 and drum 250.

In operation, air travels from fan 290 outwardly between ribs 256 to drum 250 and thence through apertures in drum 250 from the interior thereof to the exterior thereof and thence past heating elements 300 and inwardly between fin-spokes 265 and thence through the duct provided by fairing 277 into the. root or hub area of fan 290 whereupon it is again circulated outwardly.

By providing suitable seals in the manner described before in conjunction with other embodiments, a gas other than air may be utilized.

' 3 and 4 over the embodiments of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 is that heat loss to the ambient atmosphere is minimized by reasonof heater element 300 being contained within enclosure or chamber 221 so that the total outer surface area of the chamber 221 presented to the ambient atmosphere is less than the total area of each corresponding chamber with its associated ducting (ducts 71 and 73, FIG. 2, ducts 110 and 112, FIG. 3) in other embodiments and accordingly the heat loss from the exterior is substantially less. Also the air travels in a shorter path with less turns and convolutions and consequently meets less resistance and accordingly less power is needed for motor 293 to operate fan 290 to provide a suitable flow of air through apertures 25 than is the case with other embodiments.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that equivalents may be utilized.

Accordingly, the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing specification as indicating the scope of the invention.

It is claimed:

1. In apparatus for treating a continuous strand the combination of:

a chamber,

means for continuously introducing said strand into said chamber at a preselected rate and means for withdrawing said strand continuously from said chamber at the same rate,

a rotatable hollow drum withinsaid chamber,

said drum rotatable on an axis whereby a plurality of turns of said strand may be wound around said drum,

said drum having two ends,

the interior of said drum being the space within said drum between said ends,

said drum having a plurality of passages extending therethrough which provide communicating passages between the interior of said drum and the exterior of said drum, means to blow gas through said passages from the interior of said drum to the exterior of said drum,

said means to blow gas through said passages comprising a rotatable gas impeller means rotatable on an axis,

said gas impeller means rotatable on the axis on which said drum rotates, said gas impeller means disposed at least partly within said interior of said drum,

said apparatus being provided with heating means to heat said'gas.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 whereby said heating means are disposed within said chamber.

3. In the apparatus of claim 1, said gas impeller means disposed entirely within said interior of said drum.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 further provided with heating means to heat said gas.

5. In the apparatus of claim 4, said heating means disposed within said chamber. 

1. In apparatus for treating a continuous strand the combination of: a chamber, means for continuously introducing said strand into said chamber at a preselected rate and means for withdrawing said strand continuously from said chamber at the same rate, a rotatable hollow drum within said chamber, said drum rotatable on an axis whereby a plurality of turns of said strand may be wound around said drum, said drum having two ends, the interior of said drum being the space within said drum between said ends, said drum having a plurality of passages extending therethrough which provide communicating passages between the interior of said drum and the exterior of said drum, means to blow gas through said passages from the interior of said drum to the exterior of said drum, said means to blow gas through said passages comprising a rotatable gas impeller means rotatable on an axis, said gas impeller means rotatable on the axis on which said drum rotates, said gas impeller means disposed at least partly within said interior of said drum, said apparatus being provided with heating means to heat said gas.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 whereby said heating means are disposed within said chamber.
 3. In the apparatus of claim 1, said gas impeller means disposed entirely within said interior of said drum.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3 further provided with heating means to heat said gas.
 5. In the apparatus of claim 4, said heating means disposed within said chamber. 